Stopped by Andy's roadside stand this afternoon to pick up some tomatoes, corn, and anything else I didn't have that looked good. I wasn't really in the mood for plums, and had all the potatoes and onions I needed. He really doesn't have his own produce yet; all he grows anymore are tomatoes and squash, but it's a couple of weeks early yet for those.

I've mentioned him before on this blog, but for the uninitiated, he's our sole remaining farmer with a roadside shack. He's probably close to 90 if he hasn't already hit that age. He's such a sweet old man, that I can't imagine anyone trying to rip off the guy. I pulled into his half-moon gravel driveway and walked into the stand--basically a lean-to that has an electric line for the lightbulb and ceiling fan. There was no sign of Andy. He had to be there, because he blocks off his driveway and puts up a "closed" sign when he's not manning his stand. I looked around to see if I could find him. He stepped into the shed from the side entrance, where he had been sitting under a tree in the shade, and explained that it was cooler out there with a little bit of a breeze. I'm half his age, and even I found the heat of the blazing sun rather nasty.

We conversed a little as we always do while he weighed the tomatoes, got out his pencil and paper, then plugged the amounts into his adding machine. Four nice ears of corn and four medium tomatoes from South Jersey came to $4 even. My grocery store has been advertising corn at 3/$1.99, as if it were a huge bargain. Andy charges 45 cents an ear, and $1.99/lb. for tomatoes. I paid the man, we wished each other a good day as we always do, and I pulled out of his driveway. Mission accomplished.

Earlier this season, he opened his stand a couple of weeks late because he was in the hospital with some nasty leg abcesses. Those have since healed, and he doesn't have any more pain from them. He showed me his leg bandages the first time I stopped by this year to buy a hanging planter of purple impatiens and eight tomato seedlings. My tomatoes are growing just fine, with flowers and a few tiny green tomatoes on them. I'm forced by our subdivision's homeowner association by-laws to grow them in really huge pots on my patio, so they're never as prolific as they would be, if grown in the ground with proper spacing. Still, the eight seedlings only cost me $3; if they ultimately don't produce much fruit, so be it.

Steve has met Andy once. When his last house sale in IL goes through, and he moves in with me, presumably next weekend, he'll have more opportunity to get to know Andy. For what it's worth, Steve compares prices between NJ and central IL, and says Andy's produce prices "are about right." Housing here is outrageous. Gasoline is a bit under the national average. Most other things are expensive in the tri-state area, and the Northeast in general. At least I have a source for good, fresh, inexpensive produce this time of year.

Dinner tonight will be a tomato stuffed with tuna salad, and an ear of corn on the cob. When it's in the 90s with high humidity, that's really all I want. I might have a handful of bing cherries for dessert. I have central air conditioning, but I really hate to use it unless it's miserable with just a crossbreeze and maybe a fan at night.

As the weekend fades away, I hope everyone has a good remaining few hours before work day reality hits.